07/31/2026
He came back from his second tour with the kind of hypervigilance that made grocery stores impossible. Loud noises, unexpected movement, crowds — the nervous system doesn't distinguish between a war zone and a parking lot, and his spent eighteen months treating everything as equally dangerous. He wasn't sleeping. He wasn't talking. He was managing, which is different.
His VA counselor suggested equine therapy. He said no. She waited six months and suggested it again. He said fine, once, to get her to stop suggesting it.
The first session, they just groomed the horse. No riding — grooming. The therapist explained that horses are present-moment animals. They aren't worried about what happened yesterday or what might happen tomorrow. They respond to right now. He was asked to see if he could meet the horse where the horse was.
He didn't say anything about it after the first session. He came back the following week without being asked.
He's been going for two years. He still has hypervigilance. He still has hard days. But he has one hour a week where something requires him to be completely present, and that thing is calmer when he is calmer, and that hour became the one he holds onto when the others are difficult.
What does presence feel like for you?
🐴 He came back from his second tour with the kind of hypervigilance that made grocery stores impossible. Loud noises, unexpected movement, crowds — the nervous system doesn't distinguish between a war zone and a parking lot, and his spent eighteen months treating everything as equally dangerous. He wasn't sleeping. He wasn't talking. He was managing, which is different.
His VA counselor suggested equine therapy. He said no. She waited six months and suggested it again. He said fine, once, to get her to stop suggesting it.
The first session, they just groomed the horse. No riding — grooming. The therapist explained that horses are present-moment animals. They aren't worried about what happened yesterday or what might happen tomorrow. They respond to right now. He was asked to see if he could meet the horse where the horse was.
He didn't say anything about it after the first session. He came back the following week without being asked.
He's been going for two years. He still has hypervigilance. He still has hard days. But he has one hour a week where something requires him to be completely present, and that thing is calmer when he is calmer, and that hour became the one he holds onto when the others are difficult.
What does presence feel like for you?
